So Northfield, what are you going to do about it?

That was the gist, last week, of a presentation by Bruce Schwartau, an educator with the University of Minnesota Extension Service who presented "Small Store Success Strategies."

Schwartau's presentation was hosted by the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC) and the Northfield Enterprise Center (NEC).

From customer service strategies to capitalizing on the plus sides of having a big box presence in small towns, Schwartau gave local retailers a number of tips to implement.

Some being:

* Identifying the local products for goods.

* Pricing competitively.

* Creating attractive displays for merchandise.

* Advertising your strengths and expertise, as well as goods.

* Customer service.

According to Schwartau, there are a lot of things that Northfield retailers are doing well.

However, the message that Schwartau wants Northfield to promote is "coming to downtown Northfield is a great experience, a fun experience."

That atmosphere, "is something to sell," he said.

At the end of Schwartau's presentation, retailers sat and discussed some of the strategies they can implement during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

One recommendation?Consistent shopping hours and advertisement of those shopping hours.

It's difficult when not all of the stores on Division Street have the same hours, said Patty Austvold of Bookfellows Used Book Store.

"I've heard that from customers so many times, ‘When is that store open?'" she said.

Whether people support big box retailers or not, that's one thing they have -- consistent operating hours.

Another recommendation made by the audience was to have a list of downtown retailers and their specialties available at stores and other businesses.

Schwartau's presentation is available on the NDDC's Web site.

-- Michelle Kubitz can be reached at 645-1115 or mkubitz@northfieldnews.com.

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